Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,
JCPenney announced a $62 million dollar loss for the quarter. With the announcement, its share price plunged 16% breaking the $4 barrier for the first time. Stocks under $5 are considered “penny” stocks.
This was the worst week for Retailers since Dec 2016…
Please consider JCPenney Nosedives to All-Time Low on Big Loss.
Continue reading “Retail Rout Returns (But Don’t Blame Amazon)”
Don’t worry. Don’t pay attention to the real results of real retailers. Ignore the 100 stores being closed by Macy’s. Ignore the 150 stores being closed by JC Penney. Ignore the 150 stores being closed by Sears and their imminent bankruptcy. The mainstream media says consumer confidence has never been higher. All is well in their propaganda fantasy world.
When we discussed yesterday Reuters’ report that Wal-Mart is now actively “price testing” its products, and squeezing vendors in a scramble to preserve market share while keeping margins relatively flat, we cautioned that this is the latest indication of what appears to be a pervasive “deflationary shock” among the retail industry which is caught in a vicious fight for market share. This morning’s results from Target validated this observation: moments ago the retail giant reported Q4 EPS of $1.45, missing both consensus ($1.51) and the lowest Wall Street estimate ($1.47), even as Q4 revenue came largely in line with expectations of $20.7 billion, suggesting that holiday spending was indeed far worse
The internals were just as messy, with Target reporting comp sales of -1.5%, missing the -1.3% estimate, on gross margin of 26.9%
Continue reading “Target Plunges 12% After Missing Lowest EPS Estimate, Slashing Outlook”
One of my 2017 forecast predictions didn’t take long to be right. Shitty Christmas sales, retail implosion, store closings, and in a couple weeks a Sears bankruptcy announcement. Reality bites. Time to short mall developers as ghost malls are the wave of the future. Can Trump tweet that Macy’s can’t close the 68 stores and must continue to employ those 10,000 workers?
Remember when market cheerleaders said that holiday sales were expected to be far stronger than usual, if only as a result of the newly-discovered optimism from the Trump election? Well, at least when it comes to conventional retailers like Kohl’s and Macy’s… not so much.
First, it was Kohl’s, which announced it was slashing its full year forecast, and now sees FY2017 adjusted EPS of $3.60-$3.65, down from $3.80-$4.00 less than two months ago, in the day after the election (ronically). It wasn’t just the future: the company revealed that comp sales were also down 2.1% y/y in fiscal months November and December combined.
As Kohl’s CEO Kevin Mansell said, “sales were volatile throughout the holiday season. Strong sales on Black Friday and during the week before Christmas were offset by softness in early November and December.”
But an even greater surprise was revealed moments later by retail belwether Macy’s, which not only reported a drop in same store sales, not only slashed guidance, but also announced it would close 68 stores and lay off over 10,000 workers.
Wow!!
Who could have possibly seen this coming?
Oh Yeah. Me.
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2016/01/06/and-it-begins-2/
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2015/11/11/macys-imploding-catching-down-to-sears-penneys/
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2015/08/15/department-store-results-imploding/
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2015/06/14/consumers-not-following-orders/
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2014/09/13/kohls-the-rest-of-the-retailers-are-in-deep-doo-doo/
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2014/05/25/retail-death-rattle-grows-louder/
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/11/2016 08:14 -0400
The retailer apocalypse continues this morning with Macy’s crashing almost 10% in the pre-market after missing top-line and slashing its outlook citing the “uncertain direction of consumer spending,” which seems odd given the confidence with which The Fed, Obama, and every talking head proclaims the US consumer’s health. Comp store sales plunged 6.1% (almost double expectations) and this comes at a time when clothing inventories are at an all-time record high relative to sales.
“We are seeing continued weakness in consumer spending levels for apparel and related categories. In particular, our sales trend relative to expectations meaningfully slowed beginning in mid-March, and first quarter results are below our original outlook. Headwinds also are coming from a second consecutive year of double-digit spending reductions by international visitors in major tourist markets where Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s are key destinations, as well as a slowdown in some center core categories – further intensifying the challenges associated with growing topline sales revenue,” said Terry J. Lundgren, Macy’s, Inc. chairman and chief executive officer.